“The negativity about the quality of SharePoint seems to be diminishing. Where SharePoint used to be ignored, the platform now scores 6.6 in terms of satisfaction among internal communication professionals. However, that is still significantly lower than the 7.9 that Embrace scores on average.” — Evolve

Functionally, both systems are similar: they offer knowledge bases and news, can unlock (Microsoft) applications, and — since the rise of Viga Engage — offer opportunities for knowledge sharing and connection. This makes it more difficult to identify the unique properties and benefits of each system. How do you make the best choice here? What are the differences? And does a social intranet fit into a Microsoft-first digital landscape?

Strengthen SharePoint, not replace

For us, it's not about choosing between Embrace or SharePoint as an intranet. SharePoint is a powerful platform with countless possibilities. Embrace does not replace Microsoft, but offers a user-friendly layer on top of it. Deeply rooted in the business world, SharePoint provides a comprehensive set of tools that organizations around the world trust. But couldn't SharePoint be more intuitive and customized? That's exactly where Embrace Social Intranet comes into play.

Embrace builds on SharePoint's strong foundation and expands its capabilities. The goal? Microsoft tools make it easier to use, increase user engagement, simplify navigation and streamline content management without losing the powerful core features. This is how the intranet transforms from a simple place for documents to a dynamic and interactive digital workspace for everyone.

Collaboration and expertise

At Embrace, it's all about sharing knowledge and collaboration. Our account managers and consultants ensure that the social intranet fully meets the needs and goals of an organization. After the launch, we will guide a smooth transition and make adjustments based on user feedback. Because we are active with hundreds government institutions, healthcare organizations and housing corporations, our experts have a wealth of experience, examples and best practices to take the next step. This is how we support the further development of existing platforms. Thanks our check-up has ARAG her AVI made so successful that it took second place in the ranking of best-rated intranets in the Netherlands in the aforementioned Evolve benchmark study!

Simplifying the user experience

‍Embrace offers a user experience that perfectly matches the target group. SharePoint is powerful, but often complex out of the box. Simple design is paramount at Embrace; unnecessary buttons are removed and everything is designed with the end user in mind. This provides a more user-friendly platform, for both content creators and end users. The result? An intranet that is not only powerful, but also intuitive and easy to use. Embrace offers powerful features to fully customize the digital workplace:

• Social: The social intranet remains the basis. Powerful knowledge bases and search engines form the core, so that employees can quickly go from question to answer. The start portal can be set up completely personally: employees can organize their home page themselves with widgets and have access to a central timeline for questions, sharing knowledge and celebrating successes.
• Portals: With our portal builder and theme editor, you can easily create a unique portal that seamlessly matches your branding. The personal home page is role-based (e.g. persona) and therefore highly relevant. Functionalities and widgets can be placed or hidden in various places. In addition, simply create a special portal for volunteers or onboarding. ➔ Want to know more? Read here: From volunteer portal to crisis communication: 7 ways to build target group-oriented portals with Embrace Social

• Integrations: Easily integrate generic business apps such as Microsoft 365, Liquit and AFAS, or use our industry-specific partnerships in healthcare (Infoland Zenya, ONS Nedap), government (Business Systems, MY-LEX) and housing (Facilitor, TOPdesk). Embrace thus forms the digital gateway to the rest of the digital landscape.
• Knowledge (AI): Embrace's smart CMS makes managing knowledge bases and news easy. Unlock processes and workflows directly via the intranet. Set automatic (dis) publication dates and revisions for all your content, and use permissions for extended rights and management roles.
  ➔ Want to know more? Read here: 5 CMS tips for managing knowledge base content smartly and quickly

• Analytics: Our standardized PowerBI reports provide insight into the use of your intranet. What do users search for? Are news reports well read? What device do most people log in with? This data helps to further develop the digital workplace in a data-driven manner.

The biggest advantage is that all these powerful functionalities are built into the social intranet layer by default. Building yourself in SharePoint is often time-consuming and complicated due to the complexity and associated knowledge requirements. However, our template has been optimized based on the experience and feedback of 450+ organizations, providing time, money, and a better user experience. Of course, you can hire an external consultant, but that also involves risks.

Build it yourself in SharePoint? Risk!

‍When developing an intranet, expertise outside of ICT is indispensable. It's a collaborative team effort that requires diverse skills. Think about building a house; you need different experts to do this. An intranet requires an information architect, a communication specialist and a SharePoint expert. However, the latter is often not available internally.

Hiring external consultants to build an intranet comes with challenges. Despite their experience and skills, they often work within predetermined timeframes and project deadlines. At the end of a project, they can leave, making support and updates difficult. Knowledge continuity is therefore uncertain, and a new consultant may not have sufficient knowledge of the project history. In addition, external consultants are often expensive.

By purchasing directly from the supplier, instead of using IT experts to develop SharePoint into a customized intranet, you limit these risks. Our account managers are always ready to help you think along and take your intranet to the next level.

Microsoft First: Technical Architecture

‍Many organizations have a Microsoft-first policy. The need for predictability, integration of the digital landscape, and cost control have made Microsoft-First (or Microsoft-Unless) a popular approach. The many advantages make this an understandable policy. That is why Embrace, as a Microsoft Gold Partner, fits well into this policy. For example, all integrations between the social intranet and Microsoft 365/SharePoint are built on the basis of the Microsoft Graph API.

The basis of our tech stack is Microsoft Azure, complemented by a range of Microsoft 365 products and services. In some cases, we make exceptions where the market offers better or cheaper alternatives. Our foundation is Azure, where we host our multi-tenant platform. Our products are “split” into smaller services that we host with Azure Kubernetes Services. As a result, we are scalable, reliable and can make changes very quickly. We can create customer environments with the click of a mouse using Terraform. Our own products are developed in .NET Core, NodeJS, or Java. We supplement these with powerful cloud applications such as Microsoft DataFactory, PowerBI and PowerAutomate. We also use robust best-of-breed applications, such as the Elastic Stack, Squidex and KeyCloak.

All data and logic from our software come together in an Apollo/GraphQL gateway. On top of that, we build our front-ends in React or React Native. We are testing and improving more and more of our technology using AI and LLM systems such as ChatGPT.

Flexibility, interaction and costs
Of course, the blog above is not exhaustive and there are more aspects to base your choice on. In 2024, we wrote a similar blog that addresses, among other things, flexibility, level of interaction and costs. ➔ Read here: Embrace versus Sharepoint: your guide to the ideal intranet for your organization